In Lieu of Flowers

“In lieu of flowers”, the obituary read, “please donate to a worthy cause.” But when I thought about how she loved her garden, I really had to take a moment and pause. I know her daughters meant no harm, they just didn’t want to deal with the mess; Having just flown in from out of town, solely to put their poor mother to rest. But throughout the years I watched that dear labor in her garden all day; More than once or twice my house was blessed with the fragrance from one of her bouquets. “In lieu of flowers” – are you kidding me! “In lieu of flowers” – yeah, just wait and see. Her daughters arrived at the funeral home, not really expecting much of a crowd; I walked right in and introduced myself, probably talking a bit too loud. “I’m your mother’s neighbor, the eligible bachelor; she may have mentioned my name. She loved to tell me about you two – too bad you never came.” About that time the truck arrived and they started unloading the back; Flowers and wreaths of every kind in every imaginable color but black. “Oh goodness sake!” “What’s all this!” “And where did they all come from?!” “Oh don’t worry girls – they’re all from me. And, they’re for your wonderful Mom.” That funeral home was overflowing, with roses and pansies and mums; Tulips and daisies; carnations and lilies; orchids of every kind. There were snapdragons, Mona Lisas and delphinium; Dianthus, lisianthus and mathiola amongst them. The girls were shocked, that was plain to see, They didn’t know what to do, But their mother was happy, Smiling down on me, That much I know is true. By Joe Flach for the "Flowers" contest. Okay, so it's a free verse that rhymes, I didn't mean to make it rhyme, it just sort of happened that way!